Charlie Whiting has told the teams the session could be split so that not all the drivers go out at the same time – if they can agree on a solution.

Do you think qualifying at Monaco should be split?

For

Although it’s not clear exactly how it would work, splitting qualifying would mean having 12 instead of 24 cars on track at once, making it easier for each driver to do a lap without getting stuck in traffic.

Whether you consider that a good thing or not probably determines where you stand on this debate.

Against

Last year 26 GP2 cars participated in a qualifying session of similar length at Monaco. Why should F1, with a higher standard of drivers, make life easier for its competitors than a junior category?

Timing a qualifying run and doing as quick a lap as possible despite traffic is an important part of a drivers’ skill – and all the drivers have to cope with the same problem.

This debate strikes at the heart of the problem of “improving the show” in F1. The teams want to be able to do clear, unimpeded laps because they want to be able to get the very best out of their car.

But seeing drivers cope with difficulties like traffic makes F1 exciting – just as we saw at Sepang when the Ferraris and McLarens made mistakes in qualifying and started at the back of the grid.

Anyone who supports the idea of splitting qualifying has lost sight of the fact that F1 isn’t just about who can build the fastest car – it’s also about who can make the best use of it over a race weekend.

They should leave Monaco qualifying alone. At present the drivers have a choice between going out early when the track won’t be as grippy but will be less busy, or going out later when the track offers more grip but, inevitably, more traffic. Whoever calls that decision best and sets the fastest time deserves to be on pole position.

Vote

Do you think qualifying should be split at Monaco? Cast your vote and have your say below:

No. Finding the space to put in a clear lap and set a representative time is part of the challenge of qualifying. If the drivers are concerned about traffic, it simply means that they aren’t good enough at this crucial skill.

The only way I can see it possibly being acceptable is if the session was split into two, with odd-numbered cars in one session and even-numbered cars in the second session. Dividing the field on performance alone would be grossly unfair.

I’m getting really bored of myself here but once again (for possibly the 100th time) I agree with you when it comes to F1 ! :P
Although I don’t think there should be any split, not with odd or even at all.
Besides, quali will be more all over the place if people get held up so it’ll be more interesting. They can’t split the race and will have to deal with it then so they may as well get used to it in quali too

The odd/even split is not something I would favour, but it would certainly be preferable to dividing the field due to performance or whatever. I still feel that negotiating traffic is part and parcel of qualifying – we don’t want to have to go back to that single-lap nonsense we were stuck with in the early 2000s.

I’m 100% against it. What’s next? The FIA deciding when teams have to go on to wets if it rains just to make sure the big teams don’t get caught out… Actually, why do they just start in order of how many points they already have so the big teams will always be at the front. No? No.

Stupid, stupid idea.

It’d take a lot to put me off F1 and the FIA have tried really hard to make that happen so far without success but this may be one step too far for me.

The main problem with for is that the track gets quicker the whole time. It’ll be unfair for those in the later session.

I would suggest a return to a one hour session for this weekend only – perhaps with all cars having to make a run once every 15 mins and allowing them 12-16 laps in total or something like that!

I think the main problem nowadays is that F1 is so commercial that every point (which may as well = qualifying position in monaco) is worth so much money that its unfair for a top team to be blocked by a slower team. it may be great for the fans but its not so great for those trying to make money!

If they were dead keen on doing something different I’d be happy with a return to a one hour session for Monaco. Don’t worry about making them run once every 15 mins – if they want to risk leaving to the end without one in the bank that’s their own problem

If they had a field of 30+ cars, it might be worth considering splitting Q1 up in two “heats” but with 24 cars that is just back to a few years ago.
Just concentrate on getting the perfect timing of the lap and your king. That is a very good thing to see in a driver, Vettel did it several times, Schumi used to know about it and Senna was expert, so no let them cope with traffic.

It’s surely just a component of Grand Prix racing? What I really don’t understand is why it’s the drivers in the slower cars making this argument. Trulli’s Lotus could find itself in Q2 if his immediate rivals hit traffic and he gets a clean lap.

Definately not, all cars should have access to the track at the same time for the same period of time.

We all know how quickly the track conditions can change and how much that can affect the cars performance. It needs to be a level playing field and the only way of doing that is by having all the cars in the same sessions.

It will only matter in first part of the qualifying and they have 20 minutes to get the fast enough lap not to get stuck in slowest 7. What is next? Race will be split in 2 tiers because of the traffic?

With this very tendentious text, it’s quite easy to predict the outcome of this poll. Not that it changes a thing, ’cause, if drivers are hardly listened to in F1, never mind the fans.
But my opinion is pro, for Monaco, that is.
The argument about GP2 is rather irrelevant, as GP2 cars are quite slower than F1 and a bit more equal, so their facing traffic is more up to the time you go to the track.
Monaco is short and narrow. It’d be dangerous (safety first, innit?).
Also, I think the idea of separating odd and even numbers would be great. One drivers per team each time. Then divide Q1 in 10 min + 10 min, and so on with Q2 and Q3.
We’ll have to wait and see. xx

I don’t think the problem is too many cars, the problem is the huge gap between the front-runners and the back-markers. The back-markers won’t even get a lap in, they’ll just be letting everyone through.